Richard Frisch Feb 1959 to Jan 1961 C-Company I was 17 when I joined the 79th. I was probably about 18 at the time this picture was taken. When I first went into the service, it was all about back braking work. Not until I went into ADM in the 237th Engr Bn did I learn that I could get ahead by using my brain. Of course there were a lot of great guys in the 79th. They were willing to show a new kid on the block how to do a lot of things. We were at De Isle Kaserne. Wonder if it is still around? Lived in the Billets with the whole Battalion, which lived in one long building. The Companies had locked partitions between them. Joined the army to get out of the classroom - Ha! Found out that there was a lot more; but , at least I was learning a trade - right? ----- In Nancy, France, I worked with the masons. Found out that if you get cement in a blister you can get infected. West of Pirmasens there is a town called Ruppertsweiler. Out past the town there was an old German Army demo storage area. We spent a few months turning it into offices for the big-wigs in case there was a war in Europe. SSG Curry was in charge of the site. He was officer crazy. The temperature in the caverns was about 58 degrees and every time a officer would show up, Curry was supposed to be notified, and he would come running out to salute and report how far along we were on the project. I should mention that it was about 95 degrees outside. Curry found out the hard way that the body can't take all of those weather changes without something happening. So one time he came running out and before he could salute, he passed out. The CO said either in or out. Let somebody give the results of the project. I remember the clearing of bunkers and hangers, just could not remember where it was at. When you live in the field and the beer runs are made by NCO's, it's hard to pick up town names. Fulda is where we were involved in our first race riot ( war ). It started with fists, then clubs, then knives. It got stopped just before it got to the gun stage. Why was it that when we bridged the Rhine it was always cold. Never got to do it when the weather was good. I remember we asked if there was an aluminum bridge set. Found out the hard way. The aluminum set was heavier then the steel one. Seems you need more aluminum for support than in the steel one. 1st Platoon Company C Names in the picture: 1st row with flag: PVT Durante 2nd row:SGT Salas, SGT Smith, LT Hurdle, SGT Curry 3rd row: SP/4 Ruiz, PFC Frisch, PFC Cook, PVT Blasey, SP/4 Handly, SP/4 Nicholas, SP/4 Louis, PFC Cole (Platoon Sharpshooter) 4th row: SP/4 Artman, PFC Glitz, PFC Minard, PFC Flynn, SP/4 Moore F. 5th row: SP/4 Bria, SP/5 Smith, SP/4 Moore E., PFC Epperson, PFC Sands, SP/4 Thompson, PFC Miller, PFC Bredeau (Killed in Jeep Accident) I arrived in Pirmasens just before the Company moved to Nancy,France, where we added 6 class rooms to the school there. We also put up a consolidated mess hall. The problem with the mess hall was that all the blue prints were in metric and we had to convert everything to feet an inches. The framework was like a giant erector set and after every thing was in place, you had to pull the pins to lock it in place. I was looking at the other 79th Engineer web-site and saw that they were still doing war removal from World War II. We did some of that too in the summer of 1960. We found underground buildings that had a large pipe coming out of one wall, then turning a right angle, and then going into another wall. Found large underground storage areas for fuel too. The place was real strange. After all that time we still had to sweep for mines, and booby traps. Castles in the Pirmasens area Wait for menu applet to load then click "Burgen der Region" Nancy France This is a wild, and very "French" link of who knows what, but it's cool. World War II Photography Raymond Getz Collection of World War II Photography Some of the best I've seen Richard has also made available to this website two very valuable and rare Letters of Commendations that the 79th Engineers got for Disaster Relief in Morocco in 1960. Here is Richard's letter. For the other CLICK HERE - Webmaster (1st Platoon) COMPANY A 79th ENGINEER BATTALION APO 189 US Forces 12 April 1960 SUBJECT: Letter of Commendation TO: Private First Class Richard G Frisch, RA 16 614 126 Company C, 79th Engineer Battalion APO 198, US Forces 1. This letter is in recognition of the part you played in the disaster relief work in Agadir, Morocco, between 2 March 1960 and 13 March 1960. During this period you participated in the air lift of this Engineer Construction Company from Germany to Morocco and return, a significant task in itself. The combined efforts of this organization in Morocco have been praised by the government and military officials on all levels concerned with the operations. 2. Upon initial arrival in Morocco, Company A personnel worked with Navy, Air Force, and allied military rescue crews in final efforts to recover the dead and rescue the living amid the shattered ruins of the city. Subsequently they assisted in the decontamination efforts by leveling to rubble all that remained standing after the earthquake. Water purification and normal company operations such as mess, vehicular maintenance, and administration were all contributory to the success of Company A in performing so commendably in this emergency situation. 3. I wish to add my personal appreciation to each man who through his individual efforts added to the unit effort which resulted in such a successful display of military preparedness. (signature in blue ink) EMORY W KLINE JR Capt CE Commanding I remember the flight to Agadir. The aircraft carrying the mess hall was delayed in Spain. We spent 24 hours on our lonesome before it caught up with us. We caught a lot of fish to eat. It was in the 79th that I learned that when we went to the field we didn't have to carry nails in the pioneer tool box. I couldn't see dragging an empty box, so I filled it up with wine from the local are area. It helped a lot.